Close to 70% of kidney stones in man are composed partially or predominantly of calcium oxalate. There is no satisfactory drug specific for the treatment of calcium oxalate renal lithiasis, nor for prophylactic use by patients prone to recurrent attacks of this disease.
The most common treatment for renal lithiasis due to calcium oxalate consists of surgical removal of stones, control of the diet to restrict calcium or oxalate, and ingestion of large quantities of water to dilute the urine. Attempts at chemotherapy have included the adminstration of magnesium oxide, calcium carbimide, orthophosphate, cellulose phosphate, isocarboxazide, thiazide diuretics, allopurinol and succinimide. Limited success has been realized by these drug approaches. No drug which specifically inhibits the biosynthetic formation of oxalic acid has previously been developed for the treatment of calcium oxalate renal lithiasis.
The immediate metabolic precursor of the majority of the oxalate in the urine of a typical patient is glyoxylic acid. In turn its most important precursor is glycolic acid. The enzyme glycolate oxidase is able to carry out the oxidation of glycolic acid, through glyoxylic acid, to oxalic acid. Inhibition of this enzyme will, therefore, reduce the concentration of oxalic acid in the kidney and bladder, reducing the probability that calcium oxalate crystallization will occur. Thus inhibitors of glycolate oxidase provide a specific approach to the prevention and treatment of calcium oxalate renal lithiasis.
Liao, et al, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 154, 68-75 (1973) have shown that phenyllactic acid and n-heptanoic acid, which are inhibitors of glycolate oxidase, inhibit oxalate biosynthesis in isolated perfused rat liver. These compounds are not sufficiently potent to be useful as drugs.
The preparation of 3-hydroxy-4-phenyl-3-pyrroline-2,5-dione ##STR1## has been described by Harlay, J. Pharm. Chim., 24, 537-48 (1936). 3-Hydroxy-4-aryl-3-pyrroline-2,5-diones are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,263 as intermediates in the preparation of antiphlogistic substances. A number of 3-hydroxy-4-substituted phenyl-3-pyrroline-2,5-diones are reported by G. S. Skinner, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 73, 2230 (1951). (In this paper these compounds are referred to as pyrrolidine-2,3,5-trione derivatives). 3-Hydroxy-4-(4-bromo-1-naphthyl)-3-pyrroline-2,5-dione is described by G. S. Skinner, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 70, 4011 (1948).